In Conversation With Erik von Frankenberg, The Fashion Photographer With Unbounded Potential

Von Frankenberg was born and raised in Madrid. His foray into photography began in youth, where he would capture the in-between moments at skate parks on his first film camera. “I remember taking pictures of the sky, pictures of my feet, those naive things you do when you search for who you are at that age”, von Frankenberg tells IGNANT. “Photography tells you something in a cryptic way beyond what you are really seeing” “I also loved movies and wanted to study cinema”, though he ventured down the path of photography instead. Yet, some crossing influence between the two mediums transpired: “As I understand it, to be a photographer is to tell stories”, he says. “Photography tells you something in a cryptic way beyond what you are really seeing”. Von Frankenberg’s portfolio is a mixture of stylized portraits, abstract landscapes, and close-ups focusing on details such as lines, shadows, and tonal colors. “I like to extract from reality, to manipulate it in a small way and give it new meaning”, he explains. However, no frame is edited or retouched: “I don’t like perfect images”, von Frankenberg confesses.

When asked if there are any industry rules he tries to disrupt in his work, von Frankenberg explains that his limitations are more situational. “I would love to break more rules, but unfortunately Spain is a conservative “Spain is a conservative country in terms of visuals. It can be hard to push the limits”country in terms of visuals. It can be hard to push the limits on castings or ideas for campaigns”. Yet this predicament hasn’t stopped von Frankenberg from producing considered photography of a high caliber, and if his shoots for Metal Magazine, Blanc Magazine, and Marie Claire France are anything to go by, we can expect an exciting future of bold editorials from him.